Here’s a thing that everybody needs – a nice pair (or a dozen) of shoes. And sure enough, there are plenty of brands to cater to all of our needs concerning footwear, be it a durable winter shoe to carry you through the nastiest of weather or a comfy summer sneaker to follow you on your adventures.
And as sure as the need itself, when thinking about footwear, some particular brands pop into your head immediately. Which one is it for you – Nike, Vans, Red Wing, or Crocs? You’ll probably agree that the names that pop into your mind are the brands that are both absolutely iconic and have their social media influencer game just right. So shall we take a look at what they did to become so huge and recognizable worldwide?
Sperry
Sperry, an iconic hand-crafted footwear company, is no newbie in using social media content to its own advantage. However, unlike many other brands, Sperry’s strategy consists mainly of user-generated content.
How do they do it? Sperry hosts influencer photos with their brand on its own page, which itself has a generous audience of about 300,000 followers. So, to put it simply, they merely repost content, and it seems to be working like a charm!
La Redoute
La Redoute, a French multi-channel retailer, decided to take Christmas marketing and make it their own. Which, consequently, meant their sneaker-oriented campaign was more than great.
So, a couple of years ago, La Redoute launched a TikTok Christmas campaign. In it, they collaborated with influencers and gave away a pair of sneakers each day from December 1st to the 24th. La Redoute also did not forget the importance of assigning a special hashtag to the case (in this instance, it was #laredoutexmas) that helps gain visibility. And visible, they got – over a million views of the hashtag! So, considerable gains in visibility on the platform and also among the Gen-Z audience.
Nike
Well, what’s a footwear campaign list without Nike? Definitely an incomplete one! However, there’s one catch – it’s pretty hard to single out just one of their influencer-driven campaigns, and it’s best to talk about their influencer marketing strategies in its entirety.
Did you know that influencer-driven campaigns take up to 26% of Nike’s whole marketing strategy? That’s a pretty solid number if you were to ask us. Now, Nike IGC serves as a seamless extension of the brand by utilizing similar emotional branding tactics. Meaning the influencers carry the same messaging, tone, and values as in the brand’s marketing in every other channel. Which, of course, makes for nice, easily recognizable, and holistic promotions.
As for the campaign, take a look at their collaborations for promoting Nike Unlaced sneakers, created specifically for women. Even from this one picture, you can get the brand’s vibes of invincibility, being exceptional, and comfort.
Famous Footwear
Famous Footwear, one of the largest footwear retailers in the US, aimed to utilize influencer marketing to share new product releases and spread awareness of the brand and retailer locations. The key focus of their campaigns was to make people understand that Famous Footwear is famous for its lower prices and affordability.
Although Famous Footwear is careful and a bit conservative on its brand image, it doesn’t mean its influencer collaborations or created content is drab or stuffy. In fact, it’s all kind of wonderful and inspiring, just like this one aimed at parents shopping for their kids.
Crocs
While some footwear brands like to play it safe, Crocs is not it. In fact, long gone are the times when we thought about Crocs as something your granny would wear to her gardening! And that isn’t because Crocs worked on their designs, but rather because they’ve worked hard on their influencer and celebrity collaborations.
Take, for instance, their collab with Post Malone. Yup, the very same ‘bad boy’ Post Malone who himself and his followers have seemingly nothing to do with the brand. However, this quirky collaboration proved to be a huge success and allowed Crocs to reach a whole new demographic.
Bonus points – remember the awesome influencer campaign Crocs did in Lithuania? The influencers the brand collaborated with made the clogs seem ultra chic!
Dr. Martens
Not so long ago, Dr. Martens’s boots were reserved for the feet of underground musicians or representatives of various subcultures. Now, you wouldn’t be able to cross a street without noticing somebody wearing a pair! Now, that, of course, did not happen overnight and is a fruit of a carefully thought-through and exceptionally carried-out marketing strategy. One that absolutely involves influencers and social media.
Take, for instance, their #TeamUpOnTheTrack Instagram Reels campaign, where Dr. Martens’s followers were asked to use their skills to create music visuals for new artist Cariss Auburn Taylor.
Now, the immersive experience of the challenge, the cause, and the topic were everything Doc Martens’s followers wanted, and this campaign caused the exact right shockwaves throughout social media channels. And that’s probably one of the reasons you don’t need even five minutes to spot a pair worn by somebody out on the streets!
Takeaway Note
Advertising footwear, an essential thing that every human being needs, is no easy feat, especially when there are so many great brands! So, creativity here is a must, even if you’re backed by a badge of a footwear icon. There’s one thing that all of these brands did, though – they’ve incorporated their goods into their customer’s lifestyles and made themselves irreplaceable by anything else. And this message is a good takeaway for any business striving to make itself known via influencer marketing – to be an irreplaceable choice.
